Ohio (18-28, 14-13 Mid-American Conference) was swept for the second time in its last three series over the weekend in Kalamazoo, Michigan, against MAC opponent Western Michigan (19-28, 16-10 Mid-American Conference).
Just like its last three series, Ohio had a chance to move up in the MAC standings as the MAC tournament is quickly approaching, but it couldn't come through.
Here’s how each game went down against the Broncos
Game One
On Friday night, the Bobcats fell 8-2 despite keeping the game close until the later innings.
Dillon Masters was on the mound for Ohio to start the game, and the lefty ran into some trouble early in the first inning. Western Michigan’s Will Morrison got the offense started with a one-out double to left field. After a walk and a productive out, Jimmy Allen stepped to the plate and lined another double to left that would score two runs.
Down two going into the second, Collin Kasperbauer got the second started with a double down the left-field line. *Kasperbauer would later be brought home by a Nick Dolan single, but that is all Ohio’s offense could produce in the second.
Masters ran into some more trouble in the fourth after allowing a lead-off single that was followed by a two-run home run from Greg Budig.
Ohio was able to tally another in the sixth on an RBI double from Gideon Antle, but it wasn’t enough. Entering the eighth, the score was 4-2 with Tyler Peck on the mound. Peck allowed four straight runs in the eighth including another 2-RBI knock from Budig.
The Bobcats' offense was quieted by a seven-inning performance from Western Michigan’s ace Brady Miller. Mason Minzey was the only Bobcat to record two hits in the game.
Game Two
In Saturday’s game, Ohio was able to produce more on offense but still fell by a final score of 6-4.
Jacob Tate started the game for Ohio and was able to retire Western Michigan’s offense for six straight innings without allowing a run. Tate ran into some trouble in the seventh after allowing a walk and three straight singles before being relieved by Luke Olson. Western Michigan went on to tally four runs in the inning.
Despite the six innings of shutout baseball from Tate, the offense was only able to produce one run in the first eight innings of the game. Entering the ninth, Ohio trailed 4-1.
The ninth was a big inning for the offense, as it was able to tally three runs including an RBI double from Dolan. Ohio was only able to tie the game at four because Alec Patino ended the rally with an inning-ending double play.
Luke Olson allowed a walk-off home run in the bottom half of the ninth to Western Michigan’s Cade Sullivan. Sullivan tallied three hits with four RBIs en route to the Broncos' walk-off win.
Game Three
The wheels fell off for Ohio in game three when it was mercy-ruled by a score of 14-3 in a game that ended in the seventh inning.
Hudson Boncal took the mound for the Bobcats and was unable to get out of the first inning after allowing six runs before being replaced with two outs in the inning by Zach Weber.
Ohio was able to get two back in the second inning, but it was never able to climb back from the early six-run deficit. Western Michigan was able to tally a run in the second and third innings and then recorded four runs in the seventh off Ohio’s Collin Sells and Adam Beery. The game ended with a ten-run mercy rule after a grand slam in the seventh from Dylan Nevar.
Ohio was completely outmatched in game three, Kasperabuer and Alex Finney each recorded two hits in a performance where the offense was only able to tally five hits combined.
After a sweep from Western Michigan, Ohio’s future this season will be determined by how Western Michigan performs next weekend. Sitting in fifth place, the Bobcats are two and a half games behind a tournament spot with one week left in the 2023 season.
